Skopje, 22 August 2023 (MIA) — After meetings in Athens with EU high representatives, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj said Tuesday there was readiness for a new EU enlargement so North Macedonia should not miss the opportunity to be part of it.

"The message is clear. Western Balkan countries must find themselves in the EU as soon as possible. The moment and determination for a new enlargement with EU is present now more than ever. Everyone is aware that the EU and Europe cannot be united if all Western Balkan countries do not join the EU," Marichikj is quoted as saying in a Secretariat for European Affairs press release.

The release adds that during their official visit to Athens to mark the 20th anniversary of the Thessaloniki EU–Western Balkans Summit and the Thessaloniki Declaration, Deputy PM Marichikj and Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to confirm the strong alliance between Greece and North Macedonia and the commitment that the two NATO allies should also be together in the EU.

During the meetings, top EU officials welcomed the constitutional amendments and called for maturity, accountability, and support from all political parties in the Parliament.

"Our path towards the EU has been mapped out, and that is what the citizens want. The choice is ours, whether to make the necessary constitutional changes to walk on the EU path and achieve membership by 2030, or to stay in the waiting room," Marichikj stressed.

The chief negotiator with the EU also said that waiting was a strategy emptying the country of its young people and destroying hope for a better, European future. The majority of North Macedonia’s citizens, he said, want the country to become a EU member as soon as possible.

"We have to seize this chance, and continue along the path to a fast-track EU membership. That is what we want, and what we deserve," the Deputy PM said.

In Athens, Marichikj and Kovachevski held bilateral meetings with President of Moldova Maia Sandu and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. ssh/mr